New Orleans Internet Marketing

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for their first Superbowl win, and to all of the new fans and long time supporters. I grew up in this city and always dreamed of the celebration that would take place if our Saints ever won the Superbowl. Last Sunday night, I got to witness it firsthand and it was better than I ever imagined.

A few great things that happened as a result of this win:

1. The Saints proved that they were the best team in the NFL this year, proving all the naysayers wrong at last.

2. The Saints gave the people of New Orleans hope that yes, it CAN happen to us.

3. The Saints Football Team provided the most positive press to the city of New Orleans and State of Louisiana that we could have ever asked for, and in doing so put an exclamation point on the recovery of our city and left a lasting impression in the minds of all viewers.

About a year ago, I got my first Hilton Honors credit card for my business and started making the most out of the money I spent on advertising by getting rewards points that went towards hotel stays at any Hilton resort. It’s worked out so well for me, that I now use another HHonors card for my personal expenses as well. I try to pay any bills I possibly can with the credit card, and I end up getting at least one free hotel night every month! Since I was never the type of person that was good at saving money for vacations, this has worked out very well for our family.

With the monumental rise in gas prices this past year, credit cards with gas rebate rewards have become increasingly popular. Keep in mind that there are many cash-back reward cards available, and they typically give you 1% – 2% cashback on any purchase. Well for gas, your savings can be much higher. Some of these new gas rebate cards are offering as much as 10% off for an introductory period! The Discover Open Road and BP Visa offer 5% for the life of the card. These are huge savings (0.20 per gallon on $4 / gal. gas) compared to traditional rewards cards. It really makes it worthwhile to get one just for fueling up, especially if you’re someone who drives a lot.

To help make these cards more available to the public, this weekend I launched Gas Rebate Credit Cards.com, a site with the top gas credit cards and my other favorite rewards cards as well. I plan on keeping it updated with the best cards as they become available, so check it out if you’re in the market for a rewards card!

I posted about George Long a few months ago when we met and I was inspired by his excellent photography and his ability to capture the heart and soul of New Orleans through the lens.

At the time, he showed me a preview of his upcoming book entitled “Katrina Days,” which was a visually stunning look at some of the pitcures he captured following the storm. If you’re the type of person who likes the Time / Life “Year in Pictures” type-books, that highlight the great events of our time through photography, then this is something I think you will like. It’s also for the dedicated New Orleans residents who want something tangible to remember the events surrounding hurricane Katrina by.

I just got word that the book is now available through his website, and I placed an order. That’s what prompted me to write. It’s something I had been eagerly awaiting. To order a copy, visit: http://georgelong.com/book.htm

In the Fall of last year, Francis Ford Coppola’s computer and backup hard drive were stolen, and he lost 15 years worth of data, including writing and family photographs. He offered a reward for its return, but he never did get it back.

On a much smaller scale, last month I had a backup hard drive fail, which under normal circumstances should be no big deal. I should be able to buy a new one and just replace it, but the problem was that I had stored some data on it which was not stored anywhere else – so it’s now gone for good. I have the option of spending a few hundred dollars on data recovery to see if it can be recovered, but I haven’t been able to decide if the data is worth the price.

What About Your Websites?
Just 2 weeks ago, there was a terrible fire at The Planet, one of the largest web hosting providers in the world. The fire interrupted thousands of servers, but supposedly no servers or networking equipment was damaged. Let’s suppose there had been damage. Suppose that your web server and its backups at your hosting provider were destroyed. Most people who work on static websites have copies on their local machine that they FTP. But how many websites these days are database driven? Are you backing up your databases? I don’t know many people who do, unfortunately.

Here’s What I Do.

I’ve learned the hard way. I’ve lost too many irreplaceable files over the years. I now have a library of digital pictures of my growing family from the past 5 years on my computer. Losing these files would be a great loss for me. So here’s how I’ve come to handle local data. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re involved in the internet marketing profession, there is eventually going to come a time when you will need a picture of yourself for a bio or “about us” page. Especially if you’re a blogger – a good picture helps readers to connect and get a feel for who you are; Problogger has a good post on the benefits of using your picture on your blog.

My time had come. I needed a picture for our firm’s website. I’ve been getting along with some crappy old pictures that I cropped from random photos for too long. So being the internet marketing hacker I am, I hit Google up for some “New Orleans Photographers,” and that’s how I was lucky enough to find George Long.

Read the rest of this entry »